Built on land adjacent to the River Tees, the Riverside Stadium opened on August the 26th 1995 for the game against Chelsea where Boro came out 2-0 winners. The stadium opened with 30000 seats, costing £16 million and was the biggest football ground to be built since the second world war and the first stadium to be built in line with the Taylor report. In 1998, 5000 more seat were added with the extension of the West Stand costing £5 million. The Riverside Stadium has planning permission to add an extra 7000 seats on the South Stand to increase the capacity to 42000.

The stadium name was chosen by the Middlesbrough fans, who were given a voting slip at the final game at Ayresome Park against Luton Town. The 4 name choices were; Middlehaven Stadium, Erimus Stadium, Riverside Stadium and Teesside Stadium.

'The Riverside Stadium'

When the stadium first opened, it was named The Cellnet Riverside Stadium as part of a £3 million sponsorship with Cellnet, who later merged with BT. The £3 million stadium sponsorship was the biggest in UK history at the time for a stadium sponsor.

After the distressing aftermath of the Hillsborough tragedy, The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report, played a pivotal role in changing the way stadiums were constructed to prove safer for football fans.

With a new stadium on the horizon, Middlesbrough were the founding club to set the precedent for a safer football experience, with the Cellnet Riverside Stadium being constructed wholly in-line with the Taylor report.

With brand new state-of-the-art facilities, and with Sports betting in England at its peak, the new stadium housed its own bookmaker.

Since opening, attendances have decreased slowly due to the increasing number of games on TV and rising ticket costs. To try and get more people to come to games, Middlesbrough FC introduced a scheme where children could attend the match for £9 when accompanied by an adult. This proved popular in the 06/07 season when 32000 packed the stadium for the game against Charlton. For the 2008/09 season, Middlesbrough FC lowered prices for season tickets allowing Under 18's to buy a ticket for £95 and 18-20's for £195. These lowered prices saw Boro sell over 20000 season tickets for the season.